After practicing the skills they have learned throughout the entire program, seniors in Pattern Drafting are beginning to design their capstone collection. 

“This year we are planning on doing something a little different. We are doing a smaller, scaled-back runway show, similar to a Trunk Show,” Fashion Design teacher Levi Harbeson said. “In the industry, a trunk show is a private showing of a small collection where buyers and clients can see the work of a designer before it goes into production. This allows the designer to take feedback and alter the collection if needed.”

Students have been tasked with illustrating their designs while expanding on their personal design aesthetic with each one.

“For the fashion show this year, each senior will be designing three pieces, but only constructing one, and they will be modeling the look themselves,” Harbeson said. “This allows senior students to have enough time to make one beautiful piece that has a strong demonstration of construction skills, and make one piece that they are very passionate about and really showcases their full skillset and potential as a designer.”

Some students are looking forward to sharing what they have learned over the past four years. 

“I wanted to create something that was timeless and could be worn multiple times and still catch someone’s eye,” senior Karim Abd-Elmalek said. “After building upon our skills for all of these years, I am so excited to finally make this piece and see it come to life.” 

This will be the first runway show since 2019. To make the process more manageable, Harbeson is working with Graphic Design teacher Jennifer Gonzalez to put on an art exhibit along with the fashion show.

“We are planning to have the art show open in the evening, and have the runway be built into the center of the exhibit, allowing the models to walk amongst the art,” Harbeson said. “I’m nervous but excited, and I believe that this new form of the runway will allow us to highlight the student work in a new and interesting way. I believe that this year’s graduating class is up to the challenge.”

The show will be held sometime in April, an official date is being finalized. This gives students only two months to select and create their final design. 

“At present, as long as we move along at the planned pace, we should be fine,” Harbeson said. “The biggest challenge is ensuring the senior students stay on task, focus, and complete their work. A lot of them are suffering from ‘senioritis’ and burnout. If they can overcome that it will be an excellent production.”